Life Guru: Greek Circus – So, it’s over!

The 4 Agreements

Playing with bones

Playing with each other

Discovering our bodies

Dancing on the beach (yes, this was class time!) Great!

The month with the Greek Circus is over and I am now on my way home. I am so happy to be going home to see the boys yet half of me is so scared of going home. Responsibilities, decisions, bills to pay…. For one month, the only decision I had to make was whether to take a morning siesta or go to town for coffee. It was great, but life has to go on, I guess.

Many circus mates were taking stock; How much they have learned; Was it worth the time and money. Well, I have been asking myself the same questions. I had a marvellous time, but concretely, how has it made a difference? Could I have gotten more out of a month trekking in Nepal or sailing the Greek islands instead?

Arnaud doing the banana stretch on Anastasi

Kathy flying Stella @ the beach (non-class time!)

Stella 6 mths pregnant @ our pre-natal class

Until the last moment at the circus, I was still awaiting some grand illumination from God that will show me the way…. Alas, Malaka, there was no bloody enlightenment this time round. (For more information about my Enlightenment experience at Lahu village, check out the Apr 08 blog entry!) I learnt so much during this month but I have no idea what to do with all this! I came to the circus to learn massage, yoga & meditation… and I did, and much more. I am all body worked-out; 8hrs everyday; every imaginable type of yoga (Ashtanga, Yin, Anusara, Dance), Capeiro, Silat, QiGong, Dance, Chinese meridian stretching, Massage….. But, has my practise improved? I don’t know!

Stella & Adriane - Assisted child pose?

Tina & Stella doing the Frog.

Adriane & I - Frog on overly flexible people!

Assisted Upavistha Konasana?

Itzhak doing the side stretch on David.
Yohann & Panos Tango-ing.

Yohann and Adriane- tango twist combined with side stretch.

Tina flying me

Pei doing the cobra (no4) on me

In the last week at the circus, I panicked and decided to put in extra practise hours outside of class. Disaster! I had all these wonderful intentions and I gave horror massage after horror massage! Of course, I was there to deliver a Thai Yoga Massage…. So, I start off with a little Russian Dance to get into the rhythm of things (following Kaline’s advice about the practise being a meditative dance), then I throw in some dynamic harmonic work a la David (i love the rocking movements; it’s so calming), then I think, hey, let’s do some flying, then, how about some cranal-sacral work (it’s cool and new!), then oh, I just remembered that the patient mentioned she has knee pain, so I attack the 6 knee points, turn her over and do acu-pressure on UB40, oh, but I can see Spleen 6, so let’s do some work there, and next thing I know, I am on stomach36, GB34 and working the Chinese meridian points and doing shiatsu……. 1 ½ hrs later, I still have not reached her shoulders and she told me specifically to work her upper back when she arrived!

You get the idea? We had a gigantic buffet of body-work techniques this month and glutton that I am, I over-ate and am suffering from a serious case of indigestion! The problem isn’t only with the massage though. I am trying to figure out how to put in QiGong, Chinese Meridian stretching, Dance, Caipero etc… into my yoga practise! I loved them all and want to integrate it into my practise. My students will be in for some fun (or they will be looking for a new teacher!). haha.

Rachel & I @ my Evaluation Massage

I did my Evaluation massage on Rachel before leaving the circus and even though there was no big bright light, I did come to some very important conclusions.
1. The massage is a meditation. When I am 100% mindful, the massage takes on a new dimension.
2. No planning and sequencing. Let the body tell me where to go next. If I start planning what I want to do in the massage, I get bogged down with techniques and moves and the massage looses its magical qualities.
3. I need to enjoy the massage as much (and if not more) than the Receiver. The massage should be relaxing and fun; Any tension I hold in my body will be transmitted to the Receiver through my hands. (Yes, I will always remember David slapping my fingers telling me to relax. Tomorrow, I will go out to buy some tomatoes and practise massaging em!)

CONCLUSION : Amazing month. Learnt a lot. (and Arnaud, I am not just saying it to earn brownie points, even though earning credits for Laos may not be a bad idea…). It has been so wonderful that I am planning to do the Laos Circus in Feb then the Acroyoga Thai massage circus in Spain in June! Yes, I am hooked! Haha. Now, someone needs to tell me how to make money whilst doing all this!